Hear enough performance gurus, making it tempting to convince yourself that dozing is a superpower: more than a quick fix following a bad night’s sleep, but a route to improved recall, a brighter outlook and perhaps a faster 5k run time. Elite soccer players swear by it – along with musicians, fighters & business leaders. Yet, when you don't have a dedicated nap-room or a career that allows regular snoozing, is it *truly* enough benefits to a short sleep to merit the effort? Is there a surefire technique to fall asleep fast? Plus, is it possible to honestly promise you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, instead of groggy?
Understanding The Nap Motivation
“There are three key drivers for daytime sleep for many people,” explains an expert sleep and circadian science researcher. “Firstly, there's known as compensatory napping, which is the action you take following a lack of sleep the previous night. The second is prophylactic napping, where you are pre-empting sleep loss coming up, for instance if you’re working graveyard shifts. The third is called “pleasure-based sleep”, which basically boils down to the wish: you have a moment to doze in the daytime, and it's enjoyable to nap.”
The initial step to undertake, so, is to examine your reason for napping. “Napping can be genuinely useful when night sleeping gets interrupted due to causes outside your control – such as, when you are caring for an infant, or you’re recovering from sickness or strenuous activity,” explains a sleep physiologist. “But if you’re napping as your sleep at night seems unreliable or poor, that’s often a sign your need for sleep is not where it needs to be. In those cases, napping can become part of the problem, instead of the fix. Employ naps as a short-term solution to address immediate needs – the priority should still be a solid and consistent overnight rest.”
The Perfect Snooze Time
This implies that napping ought not to be sufficiently lengthy to affect your overnight rest, and best should not occur after about 3pm (contingent on when you retire overnight). What duration is wise? Recommendations vary. Among a prominent study about napping, space agency scientists discovered that crew members showed improvements of over 50% in alertness and a 34% increase in performance post a 26-minute snooze (to be precise, this counted an initial six-minute falling asleep phase). “I’d suggest setting a timer for 20-30 minutes – the majority fall asleep in under ten minutes,” notes a specialist. “You'll find much advice around regarding the perfect length for sleeping, yet that often cause people to feel more anxious than anything – and the worst thing one can do while aiming to get to sleep is to be anxious.”
If you’re going to nap for a longer period, avoid the 45 to 60 minute range that induces that sluggish feeling, that spaced-out feeling when you wake. “The science indicates it’s better to take an extended nap of one to one and a half hours compared to a medium-length nap,” notes the sleep scientist. “Three-quarters of an hour is sufficient to plunge you into deep sleep and you’re more likely to feel groggy when you get up – while if you extend it slightly longer to an hour or 90 minutes, you will probably to be on the end a natural sleep cycle and are likely to get up feeling more rejuvenated. Though if you're dozing for 90 minutes, it will affect the quality of your sleep that night.”
Creating the Perfect Nap Environment
Regarding specific techniques, advice differs. Some experts recommend adopting the same protocol you use to encourage quality nighttime sleep: a quiet room, a cozy bed and maximum darkness as you can manage. Alternatively, experts propose that it's fine to just doze on a couch with ambient lighting happens to be around – both to discourage sleep inertia and to maintain your bed as the place your brain links with nighttime rest. “Sleep is something really tricky to will,” notes an expert. “Lacking any sleepiness, it becomes harder to get comfortable and practically tell yourself to go to sleep. You need a natural inclination there to start the process in the first place. Personally, I can often take a nap in broad daylight and wake up naturally alarm-free, however, what assists a lot of people is to wait for a moment that they’re naturally somewhat sleepy and then simply allow sleep to come.”
It’s worth experimenting, and if your choices are limited – for instance, if you’re trying to grab some shut-eye during a commute or at the office – it's acceptable to use sleep aids. “In my work with professional sportspeople, I advise that they don’t get used to sleeping in their bed, as they’re going to have|they will
